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A review by secre
Breaking Point by Edel Coffey
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
There was an 'advert' I saw once that engrained itself into my brain and refuses to let go. A mother goes into a store, not noticing her infant child in the back seat. It flits between the child sweating, the mother shopping, the child crying, the mother talking, the child becoming actively distressed, the mother getting side tracked, the child screaming, the mother browsing. The child unresponsive as a passer-by notices. The frantic effort to attract the boys attention. The realisation that the child is unconscious. The grabbing of a metal implement and smashing of the window. The floppy body. CPR. Running police. Ambulance. The desperation. The heartbreak.
This is the novel of that advert. An overworked mother leaves her young daughter in the car and goes to work. By the time she remembers, it's far, far too late. Vehicular heat stoke. Forgotten child syndrome. A busy mother, a career doctor, a routine upset and a dead child.
Dr Sue is successful. She's an author. She's a paediatrician. She's well thought of and respected in her field. She loves her children. Yet she left her infant daughter in the car on one of the hottest days of the year and she will never be able to escape the consequences of that one forgetful moment. Her child is dead, yet the media is out to portray her as a rich and uncaring mother. One who puts her work above her children. And so we follow the case from the morning before, all the way through the trial.
Adelaide is one of the journalists sent to cover the 'story'. Only Adelaide has her own traumatic past and has spent years running from it. This trial will bring back a lot of her own traumatic memories. The novel flits between the two perspectives as Dr Sue struggles to cope with her own grief and guilt whilst watching her marriage seem to fall to pieces. Adelaide's own history is revealed along with the pressures she faces.
This would be a five star novel for how hard hitting and well written it is. Coffey aptly dissects the stresses of working parents - particularly mothers - in the USA where there is little or no maternity leave and an expectation that you cannot let the new baby come in the way of your job expectations. Where I felt it did fall down was in how difficult it is to empathise with many of the characters; Dr Sue as a mother is one thing, but she is so rich, so successful and so privileged that most readers won't be able to see themselves in her. It makes it easier to the prosecution to attack her, yes, but the prosecution itself is problematic; there's a level of believable misogyny in a courtroom and this far exceeds it.
All in all, a well-written and thought provoking book that deals with a harrowing subject matter. It makes some interesting points on forgotten baby syndrome and the role of the stress of modern life in these preventable deaths. It's an interesting read, and my only complaint is that the characters are kept at a remove from the reader by their extreme personalities and successes.
The advert is here if anyone else wants to be traumatised in seven minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNDWN8KDVSM
This is the novel of that advert. An overworked mother leaves her young daughter in the car and goes to work. By the time she remembers, it's far, far too late. Vehicular heat stoke. Forgotten child syndrome. A busy mother, a career doctor, a routine upset and a dead child.
Dr Sue is successful. She's an author. She's a paediatrician. She's well thought of and respected in her field. She loves her children. Yet she left her infant daughter in the car on one of the hottest days of the year and she will never be able to escape the consequences of that one forgetful moment. Her child is dead, yet the media is out to portray her as a rich and uncaring mother. One who puts her work above her children. And so we follow the case from the morning before, all the way through the trial.
Adelaide is one of the journalists sent to cover the 'story'. Only Adelaide has her own traumatic past and has spent years running from it. This trial will bring back a lot of her own traumatic memories. The novel flits between the two perspectives as Dr Sue struggles to cope with her own grief and guilt whilst watching her marriage seem to fall to pieces. Adelaide's own history is revealed along with the pressures she faces.
This would be a five star novel for how hard hitting and well written it is. Coffey aptly dissects the stresses of working parents - particularly mothers - in the USA where there is little or no maternity leave and an expectation that you cannot let the new baby come in the way of your job expectations. Where I felt it did fall down was in how difficult it is to empathise with many of the characters; Dr Sue as a mother is one thing, but she is so rich, so successful and so privileged that most readers won't be able to see themselves in her. It makes it easier to the prosecution to attack her, yes, but the prosecution itself is problematic; there's a level of believable misogyny in a courtroom and this far exceeds it.
All in all, a well-written and thought provoking book that deals with a harrowing subject matter. It makes some interesting points on forgotten baby syndrome and the role of the stress of modern life in these preventable deaths. It's an interesting read, and my only complaint is that the characters are kept at a remove from the reader by their extreme personalities and successes.
The advert is here if anyone else wants to be traumatised in seven minutes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNDWN8KDVSM
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Grief
Moderate: Miscarriage, Misogyny, and Suicide attempt